The problems we faced when we were building our business are very different to the problems we face as we continue to grow the business.

When a business gets to a certain size, a wave of complacency sets in. We con ourselves into thinking that we're worked out how this "business" thing works, and how to keep the plates spinning to keep generating revenue, pay the bills, and keep the lights on.

What got us here, won't get us there.

This is often where a combination of "doing what worked before", combined with a touch of blind panic and a sudden interest in religion, gets its way.

We try harder and harder to do what worked before, even though it's clear that it's not working. But since we don't have any new cards up our sleeves (and are too scared to try them anyway) we carry on looking in places we've already looked.

The Cognitive Marketer

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Margherita pizza exists because it offends no-one. It’s the choice you make when you don't know what everyone wants.

Pineapple pizza, on the other hand, is polarizing. People either love it or hate it. Which is why it works as positioning - the people who love it really love it.

When we try to appeal to everyone, we create messaging that could apply to anyone. We put out content that avoids taking any position that might be controversial. In short, we become a collection of platitudes.

But buyers don't choose platitudes.

Our commercial opportunity exists in the margins, not the middle. It exists in being specific about who we serve and how we serve them. Not in a niche-for-the-sake-of-niche way, but in a way that makes our point of view clear.

Pineapple on a pizza? No way. But it's not made for someone like me. It's made for someone else. And that's OK.

The Cognitive Marketer

Brought to you by KEXINO - https://kexino.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kexino

Instagram: https://instagram.com/wearekexino

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Kexino

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@wearekexino

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/kexino.com

Gee Ranasinha public speaking website: https://gee-speaks.com

We're wasting time and budget chasing people who won't buy from us today, instead of looking at people who may buy from us tomorrow.

Future buyers are forming opinions right now about which brands seem familiar, credible, and worth remembering for the future.

When they eventually need whatever we're selling, they'll begin with the brands they know and have already heard of. They'll start with whatever names already sit in their head because that's how brains work.

Yes, we can call it "brand building" in whatever vague way that's come to mean today. But at the end of the day It's about having us pop-up in someone's memory before that person needs to make a buying decision.

The Cognitive Marketer

Brought to you by KEXINO - https://kexino.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kexino

Instagram: https://instagram.com/wearekexino

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Kexino

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@wearekexino

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/kexino.com

Gee Ranasinha public speaking website: https://gee-speaks.com

Too many business owners suffer from loss aversion. They tend to avoid a possible less, by sticking with the status quo - what’s worked in the past that got them to where they are.

However, that also means they’re risking possible gain, by trying something new.

Markets continue to do what they’re going to do, and won’t put things on hold for us while we try to catch up.

Because if we won't disrupt what we've built, someone else will do it for us.

The Cognitive Marketer

Brought to you by KEXINO - https://kexino.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kexino

Instagram: https://instagram.com/wearekexino

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Kexino

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@wearekexino

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/kexino.com

Gee Ranasinha public speaking website: https://gee-speaks.com

We're optimizing for subjective appeal rather than commercial effectiveness.

Of course design, UX/UI, etc are all important. But they're not the *most* important.

Buyers don't buy from us just because our website looks pretty.

The main reason why a page converts is because of the copy. Yet we're apparently OK to spend thousands on frameworks, design engines, and brand guidelines while considering copywriting as though an afterthought.

We're optimizing for looking professional instead of being interesting. While "professional" gets us in the door, it's "interesting" that actually converts.

Yet we keep confusing the two.

The Cognitive Marketer

Brought to you by KEXINO - https://kexino.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kexino

Instagram: https://instagram.com/wearekexino

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Kexino

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@wearekexino

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/kexino.com

Gee Ranasinha public speaking website: https://gee-speaks.com

Buyers can't tell the difference between our widget and the competitor's widget because functionally there isn't one.

We're perfecting features that look really cool in a demo but that the average user wouldn’t ever use.

But these so-called “improvements” do nothing more than keep us in the game. They don't provide us with ways to win.

I’m not saying that substance no longer matters and marketing can now do all the work.

I’m saying that In markets where products 'just work' and any functional differences between them are minimal, perception becomes substance.

We've professionalized ourselves into sameness.

Bland messaging costs more than we think. Every generic touchpoint trains buyers to tune us out.

We're not “building awareness”. We're teaching the market that our category doesn't deserve attention.

We complain about commoditization. But we’re the ones who created it.

Who actually breaks through? The businesses that are willing to sound like somebody instead of like a committee.

The Cognitive Marketer

Brought to you by KEXINO - https://kexino.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kexino

Instagram: https://instagram.com/wearekexino

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Kexino

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@wearekexino

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/kexino.com

Gee Ranasinha public speaking website: https://gee-speaks.com

Marketing departments are full of people who can explain TikTok's algorithm but not what their company actually does, or what problem our product solves for our customer.

We keep hoping the next tactic works. That the next hire cracks it. That there's some kind of a shortcut we haven't found yet.

But there isn't one and, in our heart of hearts, I think we know that.

The Cognitive Marketer

Brought to you by KEXINO - https://kexino.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kexino

Instagram: https://instagram.com/wearekexino

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Kexino

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@wearekexino

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/kexino.com

Gee Ranasinha public speaking website: https://gee-speaks.com

You're also competing against Coca-Cola,

and Nike,

and Disney,

and Amazon,

and every other brand that delivers an outstanding customer buying experience.

The biggest brands in the world are setting the standard for how we, as consumers, expect to be treated.

But this also means that your business is being judged by the same standard.

Your eCommerce site's search function, product descriptions, images, delivery options, and returns policy.

The quality of your hardware, software, user experience, and packaging.

The text of your emails. The design of your invoice.

How you answer the telephone, or respond on social media.

If customers don’t think their buying experience matches up with what they’re expecting, don’t be surprised if they choose to buy from someone else.

Most teams publish more and get less.

The fix isn’t another tool or bigger budget. It’s making our marketing a mirror that our buyers recognize.

In this episode, we unpack how to find and use customer language, the few insights that actually move conversion, and why qualitative research beats “more content” in B2B.